Mountain climbing prisoner surmounts jail wall

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Guards at a prison in Malmö have come in for sharp criticism after a mountain climbing detainee managed to scale the jail wall and make good on his escape in January this year.

Despite being watched over by two prison wardens in the central yard, the man managed to clamber half way up the bars on a window in the main building before he was detected. By then it was too late, Skånska Dagbladet reports.

The prisoner, who had trained as a mountain climber for five years, was able to continue his ascent unhindered. By the time staff managed to react, the fleet-footed intern had already reached the summit and disappeared over the other side of the wall.

While staff at a Malmö detention centre were aware of the man's mountain climbing expertise, the information had not been passed on to Kriseberg jail.

Investigators at the southern branch of the Swedish Prison and Probation Service have directed criticism at both the individual wardens and the prison's general security precautions.

"It was far too easy and went far too quickly," the investigators wrote in their report.

The runaway mountaineer was arrested by police 20 minutes after his escape.

Both the prisoner and a prison guard were left needing hospital treatment in connection with the incident.

The mountain climber was bitten by a police dog during the arrest, while the guard injured his hand banging on a staff room window when alerting his colleagues to the escape attempt.